By Dave Fidlin
For the second time in the past year-and-a-half, a state agency is providing Whitewater officials with grant dollars that will go toward a program aimed at fostering start-up businesses.
During a celebratory event June 6, Reed Hall, secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, presented the Whitewater Community Development Authority with $250,000 matching grant toward the capital catalyst fund that has been underway within the city.
In the winter of 2013, WEDC officials presented the Whitewater CDA with a similar grant for the fund. At that time, $300,000 was disbursed to assist local companies in their endeavors.
“This is a pretty big deal,” CDA Chairman Jeff Knight said at the appointed body’s most recent business meeting May 28.
The Whitewater CDA has been tasked with managing the capital catalyst fund, and individual requests are reviewed and acted on during the group’s meetings.
Typically, the grants have been issued to start-up businesses focused on technology. But there is flexibility in the types of businesses receiving the grants. In most cases, the dolled out dollars do not require a repayment by business representatives.
Several criteria go into determining recipients of the capital catalyst funds, including the needs of the business itself, whether it is generating revenue and the number of jobs created.
To date, four local businesses have received capital catalyst funds from the first grant allocation in early 2013.
The largest recipient, Bomboard LLC, has received a $10,000 grant and $100,000 toward a so-called royalty investment to aid in the growth of the business, which is focused on water sports and other summer recreation activities.
In Bomboard’s young life as a business, company leaders have developed a new personal watercraft that is intended to be less expensive from current products on the market, according to a news release from the Whitewater CDA.
The CDA also has pledged a $50,000 royalty investment to leaders of DP Electronic Recycling, a company that has been in business for several years and has focused its efforts on reusing old electronic equipment, in addition to discarding unwanted items in an environmentally safe manner.
Another grant recipient from the initial round of funding is Slipstream LLC, which received a $10,000 grant to assist in software development.
Slipstream’s recent accomplishments have included development of a program that gives Whitewater residents the ability to sign up for city-sponsored parks and recreation programs remotely.
One of the more recent capital catalyst grant recipients goes to a business that just recently entered the Whitewater business community. The CDA also has issued a $10,000 grant to iButtonLink, located within the city’s Technology Park, for further development of its climate controlled monitoring sensors.
As members of Whitewater’s CDA eye a new round of grant allocations for emerging businesses, the appointed body is planning to create a for-profit entity known as Growing Whitewater’s Economy LLC.
The CDA briefly discussed establishing the corporation at their most recent meeting, but opted to hold off on any definitive action until their next meeting, which has tentatively been scheduled for Wednesday, June 25.
